Are the midterm results really a victory for female voters?

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, has been elected to the House of Representatives

It’s a great time to be a woman with political ambitions in the US - as long as you’re a Democrat. People are rightly talking about the success of the 'pink vote'; the record number of women who have won seats in Congress in the midterm elections, but across the board, there's a less gender balanced picture. There’s been a fall in the number of Republican women in the House of Representatives, something that reflects the extremely polarised nature of American politics in the era of Donald Trump.

There’s no doubt that the President’s apparent contempt for women has not just energised millions of female voters, but encouraged many to put themselves forward as candidates. Yesterday’s elections brought...